Restoring a Desert Oasis by Jody Fraser and Cynthia Martinez

Just east of Death Valley, where a 1940, and the nuclear testing program at mere 3 inches (7.5 centimeters) of rain the nearby Nevada Test Site provided a falls annually, lies the oasis of Ash source for jobs in the 1950s, increasing Meadows, Nevada, an unusual system of the demand for water. wetlands, springs, and seeps. Plentiful In Ash Meadows, the springs system sources of water in this part of the vast comprises seven major springs and over Mojave Desert are rare, and Ash Mead­ 20 smaller ones. The pools and outflows ows has drawn humans since prehistoric in the Kings Spring and Point of Rocks times. A rich variety of aquatic and Springs areas, in particular, were heavily terrestrial species also depend on this manipulated in the 1950s for aesthetic fragile, isolated ecosystem. and agricultural purposes. Farmers The perennial surface waters of the diverted water from Kings Spring into a region are supplied by an extensive concrete ditch and removed riparian ground water system that discharges vegetation to grow crops. The Ash Restoring natural vegetation along about 17,000 acre-feet (2,100 hectare- Meadows naucorid (Ambrysus Ash Meadows creek. Photo by D. Ledig/USFWS meters) each year in Ash Meadows. This amargosus), an aquatic insect, and the distinct desert ecosystem supports Ash Meadows speckled dace hundreds of plant and animal species (Rhinichthys osculus nevadensis), a small that are closely associated with, and fish, were extirpated from the Kings often dependent upon, the area’s unique Spring system shortly after people wetland and aquatic habitats. Among modified the landscape and water these species, 24 are found only in Ash courses. In the 1960s, large-scale agricul­ Meadows, constituting the largest ture and peat mining at Carson Slough in concentration of endemism for an area the northern part of Ash Meadows this size in the continental United States. caused the most significant changes to

Kings Pool, before (above) and after Twelve species are currently listed under the landscape, destroying extensive restoration the Endangered Species Act. wetlands and degrading valuable habitat USFWS photos Around 1850, a wave of settlers for endemic species. moved into the region, initiating dra­ The loss of habitats and species matic changes in the Ash Meadows area. diversity would have continued un­ Several boom and bust cycles ensued checked but for the concern of conserva­ over the course of decades, with mining tionists over the plight of the Devils Hole and agriculture being the focus of the pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis). In the early homesteaders. They altered the early 1970s, intensive water use associ­ landscape and water courses with a ated with development in the Ash series of impoundments, ditches, and Meadows area degraded wetland habitats diversions. Various nonnative fishes, and lowered the water table in Devils amphibians, plants, and invertebrates Hole, the endangered species’ only were introduced. The construction of a habitat. It became clear that the fate of railroad inspired the establishment of this tiny fish was at stake. In 1976 the freight and mercantile businesses, and U.S. Supreme Court limited the amount farmers grew fields of hay for horses and of ground water pumping in Ash other pack animals. Clay mining opera­ Meadows to ensure enough water for the tions were active from about 1916 to Devils Hole pupfish, if not for the area’s

18 ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 other vulnerable species. (See accompa­ Since the reintroduction into Kings nying article.) Spring, the population has grown to Lands in Ash Meadows were later sold thousands of individuals occupying to a development company and targeted about 850 feet (260 m) of stream habitat. for municipal and residential use. Similarly, the Ash Meadows Amargosa Development had already begun to pupfish population in this system has degrade important habitats when, in more than tripled. 1984, the company decided to abandon While much of the Ash Meadows its project and sold most of its holdings ecosystem is returning to a balance and water rights to The Nature Conser­ reminiscent of its past, the job is not done. Ash Meadows blazing star vancy. Subsequently, the U.S. Fish and Photo by John & Karen Hollingsworth/USFWS A challenge facing resource managers Wildlife Service purchased the land and throughout the country is the invasion of the water rights to establish the Ash natural landscapes by nonnative species, Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. After agriculture fields were aban­ and Ash Meadows is no exception. Efforts The Recovery Plan for the Endan­ doned, an infestation by cattails (Typha to control nonnative species will be gered and Threatened Species of Ash domingensis) prevented the regeneration carried out well into the future as we Meadows was developed in 1990. Its of other riparian species, and the aquatic work to bring back Ash Meadows. The primary objective is to recover the listed habitat remained fragmented. A compre­ continued cooperation of state and other species and their habitats through an hensive program of spring restoration on federal agencies, as well as a concerned ecosystem approach focusing on habitat the refuge is underway, including filling public, will enable Ash Meadows to restoration and the removal of threats. of small artificial ponds, removing water remain a rich source of unique bio­ Listed species addressed in the recovery diversion features, and rehabilitating the diversity for generations to come. plan include an endangered plant, the sites to reflect the natural slope and Amargosa niterwort (Nitrophila stream flow. Restored channels include Jody Fraser (775/861-6300; mohavensis); six threatened plants, the such key habitat features as riffles, gravel [email protected]) is a Botanist with spring-loving centaury (Centaurium substrate, and appropriate more natural the Service’s Nevada Fish and Wildlife namophilum), Ash Meadows ivesia water velocities. Office. Cynthia Martinez (702/515-5230; (Ivesia eremica), Ash Meadows blazing In 1997, the first significant habitat [email protected]) is Assistant star (Mentzelia leucophylla), Ash Mead­ restoration project in Ash Meadows was Field Supervisor with the Service’s ows milkvetch (Astragalus phoenix), Ash undertaken in the Kings Spring drainage, Southern Nevada Field Office. Meadows sunray (Enceliopsis nudicaulis an area severely affected by decades of var. corrugata), and Ash Meadows agricultural activities. The project was gumplant (Grindelia fraxino-pratensis); designed to mimic historic conditions by a threatened invertebrate, the Ash returning the spring outflow and drain- Ash Meadows naucorid Meadows naucorid; and four endangered age channel to a meandering stream, Photo by John & Karen Hollingsworth/USFWS fishes, the Devils Hole pupfish, Warm returning Kings Pool to its original Springs pupfish (Cyprinodon nevadensis dimensions, replacing cattails with pectoralis), Ash Meadows Amargosa species more appropriate for inhabitants pupfish (C. n. mionectes), and Ash of the aquatic and terrestrial habitats, Meadows speckled dace. and reconnecting ephemeral washes to The most important action for the the outflow channel. Restoring the entire long-term protection of the listed species watershed was essential to improving the was the initial purchase of land and status of the listed fishes and the water rights to establish the refuge. It naucorid in this spring system. ended activities detrimental to the The summer following restoration, 22 species and their habitats, such as naucorids were reintroduced into the residential and agricultural development, outflow of Kings Spring, and an addi­ surface mining, and grazing by wild tional 17 were introduced the next year. horses. Restoration of historic stream This restoration and reintroduction effort flows was also identified as a key has been a great success. Prior to the element in the recovery of the spring project, naucorid populations were system and its aquatic species. limited to the upper 50 feet (15 meters) of the Point of Rocks Springs system.

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